Alltel’s new UI aims for simple navigation

An innovation volley between Alltel Corp. and T-Mobile USA Inc. in recent months has been going something like this:
Alltel introduces myCircle, a calling plan which allows users to pick 10 numbers regardless of network for unlimited calling.
T-Mobile USA later unveils myFaves, which does the same thing for five numbers-and uses a unique user interface that T-Mobile USA plans to extend to all of its phones.
Now, Alltel is continuing the game with CellTop, a new user interface that debuted last week on the sleek Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. SCH-U520 handset and which the carrier hopes to extend to all of its new handsets by the end of the year.
The interface, which will be offered free to Alltel subscribers except for data charges while roaming, consists of a series of “cells” laid out in two vertical columns per screen, with a maximum of 10 cells. The user launches the UI with one click, then navigates with a series of side-to-side clicks and avoids excessive vertical scrolling. While some phone functions, such as use of the camera, are not accessible while using CellTop, replying to text messages and phone calls from within the interface is simple.
Unlike T-Mobile USA’s myFaves, which focuses on making those five chosen numbers easier to call, Alltel is offering its customers easy access to content such as news feeds, sports information, stock updates and managing and buying ringtones. Other cells include a call log and a text messaging inbox. The data can be automatically or manually refreshed, and is free so long as the customer is within the Alltel network. The technology runs on the BREW uiOne platform and was developed in partnership with frog design; the content provider is Motricity. News headlines come from the Associated Press, and weather information, including a five-day forecast, is provided by AccuWeather.
Some cells come pre-installed and others are available for download, so that a user can choose whether he wants, say, basketball or rodeo stats. Alltel compared the cells to “widgets” in the desktop computer environment and added that the UI is open to the developer community to expand its offering with unique cells. Alltel said it would roll out new cells in the coming months through its Axcess Shop.
Scott Moody, Alltel’s director of data services, told reporters during a demo of the technology that the company’s “mantra” for 2007 is “choice and control.” As many as seven new handsets are expected to have the CellTop interface by April, with the UI extending to all new devices by the end of the year. Besides appealing to consumers, Moody said that CellTop also is supposed to make rolling out new applications easier for Alltel.
“Launching a new application post-CellTop is going to be so easy, because we’re just going to be able to plug in a new cell,” Moody said.
In a separate announcement last week, Alltel also said that it would pay a quarterly dividend of 12.5 cents per share of common stock. Company shares rose less than 1 percent late last week in response to the dividend and CellTop announcements.